Madison Young on MILF-hood

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May 6, 2011

Porn performer, director and sex educator Madison Young is busier than ever. Her company, Madison Young Productions, plans to release three films by the end of the year, she has a new live performance piece in the works, and a handful of upcoming sexuality workshops to teach. For almost 10 years now, she’s been running Femina Potens, a San Francisco multimedia art gallery dedicated to work from queer, transgendered and female artists. She also maintains (and is currently expanding) the Feminist Porn Network, a collection of sexy, queer-friendly and sex-positive porn sites. I’m sure I’m forgetting a half dozen other groundbreaking projects—but Madison’s main gig these days is raising her daughter Emma, who was born in early March.

“I definitely have my hands full and sticky with the goodness of art and sex … along with a little breast milk and baby spit up,” she tells me. With Mother’s Day this weekend, it seemed like the perfect time to chat with one of the most inspirational mamas around.

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Interview with Katie West

Interviews

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Charlotte Shane

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April 12, 2011

Katie West is perhaps best known for her “awesome boob photography” but equally respected for her excellent personal writing and internet-showcased quirkiness. She does not identify as a sex worker, but I interviewed her anyway. We talked about the stigma and judgment that chases every woman who embraces her brazen side, whether she’s recognized as an artist or regarded as a porn star. All images here are of and by Katie, taken from her tumblr.

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Interview with Stoya

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Charlotte Shane

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April 7, 2011

When I first saw a clip of Stoya in action, I was awestruck. She was the only female porn performer I’d ever seen who genuinely seemed to be enjoying it—smiling, even laughing a little, and simply radiating happiness. With her pale cheeks flushed pink and her dark hair slapping up and down around her face, she made little pleased noises instead of letting out a forced litany of “dirty talk” while some male performer (can’t remember a thing about him) went to town. I’m not an expert on her body of work, which has earned her AVN’s 2009 Best New Starlet award, but I do know that both those in the industry and casual fans alike all seem to regard her as intelligent, multitalented, and sincere. You can confirm this for yourself by checking out her twitter feed or her tumblr.

She graciously agreed to answer the following questions over email.

tumblr_leu4frnMWg1qcygiv — Stoya in a self-made skirt at AVN. Photo by Jeff Koga.

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Interview with Sarah Katherine Lewis

Interviews

By

Natalie

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March 22, 2011

I first heard of Sarah Katherine Lewis in 2006 after she published her first book, a sex work memoir titled Indecent: How I Make it and Fake it as a Girl for Hire, then interviewed her after her 2008 essay and recipe collection Sex and Bacon: Why I Love Things That Are Very, Very Bad for Me. With writing that’s painfully honest, funny and sharp, I had fallen deep in literary love. So I was psyched when I heard she has a new book out, titled—with characteristic self-deprecation—My Boring-Ass Rehab Diary. Other than not really being boring-ass (the quick skimming I’ve done already has been making me laugh), the title is pretty straightforward: Lewis started the journal on January 19, 2011 and had it finished and ready to sell by early March. You can get your own copy here.

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A Conversation With My Mom

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Bettie

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March 17, 2011

I do these interviews because I want to talk with other sex workers about our work, and because I think we all have interesting stories. But, after interviewing Matthew and his telling me he was coming out, it occurred to me that I didn’t have to worry about that. I acknowledge that I am very privileged to have a mom who isn’t freaked out by my work, but we’d had very few conversations about how she felt about my work. Actually, we hadn’t had any. I tell her about sessions, and I told her when I started working, but beyond a few mentions here and there that was it. I wanted to know what she thought about my work, and since she’s a preacher, if she thought it clashed with our religion at all. I didn’t know what she was going to say, I swear, but I committed myself to reproducing whatever she said no matter what.

102marphoto1 — (Obviously this isn't my mom and I.)

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